1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to educational or entertainment devices and, more particularly, to a miniature puppet theater and book combination and to a case for storing and transporting the same.
2. Background of the Invention
A significant problem in today""s modern society is developing a child""s reading and thinking skills. Television and video games, which consume a large portion of a child""s free time, do not develop these skills.
A significant portion of a child""s intellectual capacity, and a child""s ultimate desire to engage in intellectual activities, is determined within the first years of life. It is important, therefore, to encourage a child to read and develop intellectual skills at a very early age.
Keeping a child interested in reading, especially during the early years, is often difficult. New and innovative means for peaking a child""s interest in reading, such as exciting book material, are needed.
Further, children need to xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d in order to develop both their motor skill, and their intellectual capacity through their sense of imagination. This xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d is useful in developing a child""s oral skills as well, as the child normally talks and makes other sounds while acting out various scenarios.
Puppet figures have proven useful in prompting the desired xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d activities. Puppet theater is thought to have its origins in the orient about 4000 years ago. It migrated from the orient and flourished in the early Mediterranean civilizations. Wandering showmen of the Middle Ages used puppet theater as an entertainment medium while churches of the Middle Ages used it to portray the scriptures. Since the Renaissance, puppet theater has been an established form of entertainment in Europe from where, in the nineteenth century, emigrants brought it to North America.
Thus, puppet figures and puppet shows have long been known and the effectiveness of the use of puppet figures to capture the attention and imagination of children has long been recognized. Children""s books of the conventional form have, of course, also long been known although the difficulty of maintaining the interest of a very young child for an extended period while the conventional form of book is being read to the child is generally recognized. Indeed, it is difficult to maintain a child""s interest in reading books, particularly with television and video games competing for the child""s time.
When puppet figures are combined with a book, the text of the book may be used to define the puppet figure""s character. The combination of a puppet figure and a book is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,180 where three-dimensional puppet figures extend through openings in the pages. However, because the book and the puppet figures are visibly connected, the puppet figures become a demonstrable extension of the book and loses the potential of being a completely independent entity, i.e., it can not be the essence of a character. Furthermore, since the puppet figures are disposed in aligned slots which are located in the pages of the book, the amount of surface area on the pages available for words or illustrations is reduced. Furthermore, the puppet figures must be relatively small if a substantial amount of printing or illustration is to be placed on the pages of the book without inconveniently increasing the size of the book. Therefore, the puppet figure is not large enough for a child to manipulate by using an entire hand.
Moreover, puppet shows are normally performed in puppet theaters or on puppet stages of appropriate size, and two forms of finger puppetry are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,187,407 and 2,621,440. Animated books are also known, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,139,643 wherein various animal figures or the like are folded between the pages of book to automatically unfold when the pages of the book are turned. Additionally, books in which the fingers of the reader are inserted through holes in the pages thereof to portray anatomical portions of persons or animals pictured on the pages of the book are also known.
Moreover, while miniature theaters are known, such as the doorway puppet stage disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,834,150, there remains a need for a truly portable miniature theater which can be economically manufactured and yet be readily set up and stored by children.
Heretofore, puppet figures, books and a theater stage have not been combined in a structure that maximizes the potential and recognized advantages of the puppet figures, the books and the theater stage.
The present invention overcomes many of the disadvantages inherent in the foregoing conventional art of educational or entertainment devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a miniature puppet theater and book combination for hand actuated puppet figures adapted to be manipulated on a stage structure while reading a book such that the movement of the puppet figures may be used to capture and maintain the attention of a young child being read to.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a miniature puppet theater and book combination which permits a larger amount of visual or illustrative material to be presented on pages of a book and on a stage structure without interruption.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a miniature puppet theater and book combination by which a child may, while reading, manipulate one or more puppet figures on an adjoining stage structure.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a miniature puppet theater and book combination which is truly portable and easy for a child to set up and store and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a miniature puppet theater and book combination wherein a plurality of puppet figures of differing color, styles and type are color coordinated with portions of a stage structure and pages of an adjoining book.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a case for storing and transporting the miniature puppet theater and book combination according to the present invention.
Other and additional advantages will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are carried out by a miniature puppet theater and book combination comprising a housing defining a stage, at least one puppet-like object for displaying on the stage of the housing in the manner of a puppet show, and a book connected to the housing and whose contents are related to the appearance of the puppet-like object. The housing preferably comprises collapsible front, side, rear and lower panels which may be collapsed together with the book into a relatively flat compact structure.
In one embodiment, the puppet-like object comprises a two-dimensional figure. The rear panel of the housing has a recess for releasably mounting the two-dimensional figure. In a collapsed state, the housing is collapsed together with the book into a relatively flat compact structure while the two-dimensional figure is mounted in the recess of the rear panel.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a case comprising a generally box-shaped structure having side, front, upper and lower panels connected together to define an interior space, and an intermediate panel disposed between the upper and lower panel to divide the interior space into a first compartment and a second compartment. At least one miniature puppet theater and book combination according to the present invention is disposed in the first compartment of the box-shaped structure. The case includes means providing access into the first compartment of the box-shaped structure for retrieving the miniature puppet theater and book combination from the first compartment.